“I’m Not Here to Make Friends” by Sam Smith with Jessie Reyez and an Intro from Ru Paul, Saturday, May 6, 2023
THIRTY ALMOST GOT ME, AND I'M SO OVER LOVE SONGS. An Atlantic article published a day before Sam Smith released fourth album Gloria on January 27th this year dives into the recent controversy surrounding the artist. How did a Grammy-winning singer who made music so innocuous that you could enjoy it with your conservative Christian mom gather the old gang of Satanic panickers and cultural warriors? Sure, coming out as gay early in the singer's career was somewhat polarizing. But 2014 was a different time, and the world was coming around on issues like same-sex marriage and acceptance of gay people in general. In 2019, Sam Smith came out as non-binary, claiming the they/them pronouns, and that's where The Atlantic article proposes that Smith's 2023 controversy stems from. However, recall that Smith's third record, Love Goes was a relative flop considering the singer's debut, In the Lonely Hour and its follow up, The Thrill of It All. What's different about the Gloria album cycle? Embracing controversy. Starting with "Unholy," featuring trans artist Kim Petras, Smith seems to echo the themes in Lil' Nas X's "Montero" (Call Me By Your Name), in which the young queer singer implies in the video that he would rather go to hell and accept his identity than go to Evangelical heaven where he has to try to be something he is not.
SO IF YOU WANT IT BAD TONIGHT. When "Unholy" hit number 1 on Billboard's Hot 100, it reflected a cultural moment. It reflected downloads, streams, and radio play showing that the people of America were at least willing to listen to music created by a non-binary and trans artist, and many of those streams came from supporters. But in giving visibility to non-heteronormative culture, "Unholy" and Smith added fuel to the GOP who doubled down on issues like gender affirming care and the right of drag queens to assemble in certain states. How did Smith follow up "Unholy"? While none of the singles from Gloria have reached the top 20, today's song "I'm Not Here to Make Friends" peaked at 71, controversy has kept the singer relevant. The backlash from concerned lawmakers wanting to ban the music video for "I'm Not Here to Make Friends" flooded the internet with the release of the album. Then there was the "Unholy" Grammy performance, which had the same concerned Christians pointing out Satanic imagery like it was 1985 again. As for "I'm Not Here to Make Friends," I think that age-appropriate censorship might be a valid discussion. But there certainly is a lot of other content on YouTube that hasn't been flagged as explicit. Take for instance the sex club video in The Weeknd's "Take My Breath," which depicts breath-play. But if you ban that, what about old movies in which someone is strangled or attempted to be strangled? And who hasn't seen asses in straight pop star videos? Should the video be marked as explicit? Do you want your children watching this? Maybe you like it, or maybe it's not your cup of pee.
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